Was there a law that said that American railroads had to be domestcally controlled?

[Overmod]

wjstix

Technically / legally speaking, all railroads operating in the U.S. are U.S. railroads.

MC will remember this far better than I, but ISTR that one of the principal reasons given for why the SPSF merger fell through was substantial foreign (Canadian, Reichmann) ownership of what would have been the merged entity.

As it was, it's amazing what got looted out of those railroads before the roof caved in.  Might have been interested to see how the late '80s and '90s might have played out had those two roads not been 'done'.

[diningcar]

If you have any specifics about 'looted out' I would appreciate that info.

I was active with Santa Fe as Manager Real Estate and Contracts between 1983 and 9-15-1990 when I took a buyout. 

[Overmod]

You'd know far more about it than I would.

The story as I heard it second-hand (while in business school) was that while the merger was pending, many of the 'real' assets of both ATSF and SP were transferred away from the 'railroads' and this left them both financially weakened as companies when the merger was not approved.

I'd be highly interested to know exactly what was done if that is hooey.

[blue streak 1]

Alabama had the state headquarters requirement for awhile.  That ended up having the Atlanta & West PointRR and Western RR of Alabama parts the West Point route of the Georgia group.  Then you had SOU RRs  Alabama Great Southern from Chattanooga - Biringham - to Mississippi border.  Then SOU had New Orleans & NE for SOU in Mississippi,  Then SOU had in Lousianna the New Orleans and lower coast.  No sure about MS and LA.

How the L&N was set up in Alabama is unknown.  ACL had the ABC ( Atlanta - Birmingham & Coast ) in Alabama and some of it in Georgia.